Birmingham Photo of the Day (71): Fannie Flagg & a Model

Wandering around the Alabama Mosaic database recently, I came across the 1966 photo below showing actress, comedian and author Fannie Flagg with a model of Birmingham. The photo was taken at the city's airport.  By 1966 the Birmingham native was well-known locally and beginning her climb to much wider fame. She had appeared in productions at the Town and Gown Theatre before graduating from Ramsay High School. She entered the Miss Alabama pageant seven times and appeared in local commercials. By the early 1960's she was co-host of a morning show on WBRC-TV.  In 1964 she stepped onto the national stage as a staff writer for Allen Funt's popular Candid Camera program. The following year she moved to New York and developed a stand-up comedy act. Flagg soon started appearing  as a regular on television game shows like The Match Game and Password. She recorded two comedy albums as well.  Her greatest success came after this photograph. She appeared in her first movie role in 1970 in Bob Rafelson's Five Easy Pieces with Jack Nicholson. Her first novel Coming Attractions was published in 1981. Since then she has concentrated on her writing career.  The current two-story terminal at the Birmingham airport opened in 1973, so this photo was taken at the previous two-story terminal which opened in 1962. The facility was known as Birmingham Municipal Airport until the name was changed in October 1993 to Birmingham International Airport.  Various questions arise from this photograph. I guess Flagg was making a hometown visit after moving to the Big Apple. Who constructed the model? Why was it in the airport? Perhaps to introduce people new to the city to Birmingham? And what happened to the model???  "Fannie Flagg looking at a model of the city of Birmingham at the Birmingham Municipal Airport."  June 23, 1966 Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections Birmingham Municipal Airport terminal which opened in 1962. When the 1973 terminal opened this one became office space until demolished in 2011.  Source: BhamWiki

A Visit to Gaineswood, Part 2

This post is part 2 in a description of our trip last year through Demopolis to see the Gaineswood mansion. In part 1 I included some history of the home and its inhabitants. This post looks mostly at the interior; further comments are below.

I think the cabin in view beyond the nicely kept grounds housed the cook and is one of the only remaining outbuildings from the antebellum period. 

Here is the view as you come into Gaineswood from the public entrance at what seems to be the back of the house, but I think was actually the front entrance originally. In the lower right can be seen the wooden pineapple carved by Whitfield that once topped the gazebo on the property. 

On the left and right foreground are two rooms now used as a small gift shop and a museum about Gaineswood. Originally they were reception rooms for arriving visitors, one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen. 

The furnishings and decor in every room on the first floor are pretty impressive.

You can see the elaborate decorations on the domes in this photo. A more detailed description is below. 

Unfortunately, I did not make a note of people in the portraits at Gaineswood and have been unable to find that information online. Anyone who knows is welcome to enlighten me in the comments!

A small part of the overhead dome is visible in this dining room photo.

In the 1930's Gaineswood was documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey. The Alabama Dept. of Archives and History page for this photo identifies the space as the dining room, but I think it's actually the drawing room/parlor/library seen in the other HABS photo below. 

"The ceiling is one of two identical domes. The plaster ornamentation of the domes is beautiful in its artistry of Greek honesuckles, encased in flowing scrolls, each of which each is crested with a tiny flower. Artistically spaced windows are separated by miniature columns and from the top of the cupolas, chandeliers hang on long chains. The rich red carpeting, elegant gold drapes and gleaming furniture further enhance the beauty of this room." 

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

That wallpaper! 

Here is one of two marble fireplaces in the house. The painting is by Nathan Whitfield and titled "The Burning of Eliza Battle". Whitfield witnessed the steamboat disaster on March 1, 1858, when the boat was destroyed by fire on the Tombigbee River. More than 30 people died, and the event has entered Alabama folklore, most notably in "The Phantom Steamboat of the Tombigee" tale in Kathryn Tucker Windham's 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffry. 

One of the Venetian glass transoms with classical scenes created by John Gibson, who also designed stained glass for the U.S. Capitol. 

This desk and books belonged to Dr. Bryan Watkins Whitfield [1828-1908], the son of Nathan Whitfield who designed and developed Gaineswood. The son did order fireplace mantels from Philadelphia and create the circular observation deck on the house. 

Watkins graduated from medical school at the University of Pennsylvania in 1853. During the antebellum period and for many years afterward, southerners who could afford it went north for medical training or even to Europe since medical schools in the south were inadequate. Watkins is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Demopolis. Bryan W. Whitfield Hospital opened in Demopolis in 1953.

Some more of the elaborate woodwork throughout the house

The house has plenty of columns indoors as well!

The other marble fireplace can be seen in this photo. 

"Twenty by thirty feet, the room is gorgeously furnished, and at either end has identical gray marble mantels with wreathed rosettes decorating the head slabs. The ceiling of this room is fashioned in protruding sections of crossbeams, all highly embossed with plaster designs. The interlacing of the beams form deep coffers; each of which is studded with dainty rosettes."

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

In the first floor master bedroom is the bed brought from North Carolina

One of the upstairs bedrooms where the decor is much more utilitarian! Of course, only the family or guests staying overnight would see these rooms. 

On the left is the gazebo once topped by the carved wooden pineapple.

The Wikipedia entry on Gaineswood notes, "The exterior features the use of eighteen fluted Doric columns and fourteen plain square pillars to support the three porches, the main portico, and the porte-cochère. The assorted porches surround most of three sides of the structure." 

A hawk oversaw our departure from his perch on the observation ring, where in its prime Gaineswood's residents could view their vast property. 

A Visit to Gaineswood, Part 1

In March 2018 we visited our son Amos in New Orleans. On the way back we spent the night in Demopolis; I've  written about that stay here. We passed through Eutaw on the way home the next day, and a bit about that town is here.

We stayed in Demopolis to see the spectacular mansion of Gaineswood, and now I'm posting a two-part piece devoted just to that former home and now museum. If you have never been to Gaineswood, it's well worth a visit if you get to that part of the state. Actually, it's worth a special trip just to see it. Demopolis also has other historic structures to see including house museums Bluff Hall and Lyon Hall.  

We arrived on a weekday morning at about 10 AM when the home opened to the public. The lady who turned out to be our guide was picking up some trash near the gate where we parked. After some small talk we started walking toward the public entrance at the rear and began our tour.

A 1973 statement about Gaineswood from the National Park Service's National Historic Landmarks Program gives a brief summation of its architectural gems:

Begun in 1842 and modified in stages over eighteen years (1843-1861), Gaineswood is one of America's most unusual neoclassical Greek Revival-style mansions. Amateur architect and cotton planter Nathan Bryan Whitfield refined his mansion with the help of skilled African-American craftsmen as the stylistic preference in America shifted from Greek Revival to Italianate. Gaineswood's sprawling, asymmetrical floor plan and lavish decorative detail brilliantly reflect that shift. The drawing room (ballroom) is highlighted by vis-à-vis mirrors, fluted Corinthian columns and pilasters, and a coffered ceiling with decoative Italianate plasterwork. The parlor and dining room have domed ceilings with windows added in 1860 to illuminate the home. Gaineswood is one of the few Greek Revivial homes that has Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian columns.

Some of that interior "lavish decorative detail" can be seen in photographs in the next part of this post. 

Whitfield came from North Carolina in 1842 and bought 480 acres in Marengo County from George Strother Gaines, a federal trade agent to Native Americans in Alabama and Mississippi. Gaines had built a cabin on the site in the 1820's. He also met on his land with Pushmataha, chief of the Choctaw Nation, to negotiate their removal to Indian Territory. 

Whitfield originally named his estate Marlmont, but renamed it after Gaines in 1856. Family tradition says the mansion was built around Gaines' original dog-trot log cabin. Between 1845 and 1863 slaves also dug a mile long canal to redirect rainwater and prevent flooding of the plantation. 

In 1861, the year Gaineswood was finally finished, Whitfield sold it to his son Bryan, a physician. The main exterior construction of stucco over brick and the fine interior woodwork were completed by both slaves and free African-Americans and travelling artisans. John Gibson, a Scottish-born craftsman, created the glass transoms depicting classical scenes. By that time the estate comprised 7200 acres, 235 slaves and produced hundreds of bales of cotton annually. Whitfield designed the home himself, getting many ideas from architectural books of the time. 

The home remained in the family until 1923 and in private hands until 1967, when it was sold to the state. Gaineswood opened to the public in 1975. The current furnishings are original to the house or appropriate to the period; many were donated by the Whitfield family. The Alabama Historical Commission currently manages the five-acre property.

Further comments are below some of the photos here. All photos are mine unless otherwise indicated.

This article examines the Whitfield family's move from North Carolina to Alabama:

Barrett, Kayla. "The Whitfields Move to Alabama: A Case Study in Westward Migration, 1825-1835." Alabama Review 48 (April 1995): 96-113

Part 2 of this post is here.

This view is what you see as you approach the house from the parking area. Some of that "lavish decorative detail" is already visible. 

Across the road from Gaineswood is this view. The area where the estate's pond with an island was located is now the campus of Demopolis Middle School. The pond was filled as much of the property was sold over the years. 

See the postcard below for a view in 1860. 

This 1938 pamphlet was written by Nathan Whitfield's grandson. He notes that the original kitchen "with its great fireplace" was located some sixty feet from the house. The acquisition of a stove led to placement of the kitchen in the basement, "and then it was found that without very serious objection a kitchen might be placed on the first floor level, and so become truly a part of the machinery of living."

Whitfield also remembers the store rooms and pantries full of good food such as "boxes of raisins from Spain" and the casks of brandied peaches and apples kept in the "still house."  

Gaineswood in the 1930's 

Source: Alabama Dept of Archives & History Digital Collections

A view of Gaineswood and the gazebo taken in 1939 by Francis B. Johnston as part of the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South. You can see more of Johnston's exterior and interior photos of the house here. 

A 1910 postcard from the Eagle Post Card View Company taken from an 1860  engraving by John Sartain. That engraving is included in the Whitfield pamphlet. 

Source: Alabama Dept. of Archives & History Digital Collections

Nathan Bryan Whitfield [1799-1868]

From an engraving by John Sartain

Source: Wikipedia

My Dad's "Health Studies" Book in High School

I was in Huntsville recently visiting mom and went through family memorabilia that included some old school and college textbooks belonging to my father, Amos J. Wright, Jr. I found this one published in 1932 among them and decided to take a closer look. Why? Who knows...one of my major interests is medical history, so there's that and a family connection....

First I did a bit of research on the authors. Interesting people turn up everywhere, don't they? F.M. Gregg wrote a number of books on health, hygiene, alcohol, tobacco and other topics, including "Practical Facts about Marihuana" published in 1939. In 1929 he published a study with two co-authors that attempted to determine if dogs, cats and raccoons are color blind. I have been unable so far to find anything else about him. 

Hugh Grant Rowell [1892-1963] also published books and articles on various health topics. In addition, Rowell collected circus ephemera and his collection was donated to the Somers Historical Society in New York State. He and his wife also collected antique clocks; those were donated to Dartmouth College from which he graduated in 1915. He received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1917. He was on the faculty at Columbia from 1923 until his retirement in 1943.

The book is more than 560 pages of text and an index. Topics range from bone and joint function, the skin, digestion, respiration and blood circulation to human behavior. One interesting chapter is "What Are the Effects of Narcotics and Drugs?" which probably reflects Gregg's influence.  Chapters also cover community waste disposal and the purity of water, ice and air. 

World Book Company was founded in Manila in 1905 and published English materials for schools in the Philippines. The firm eventually moved to New York City and in addition to book publishing became a vendor for such tests as the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT).  For ten years, from 1960 until 1970, the company was part of Harcourt, Brace and World educational publishers. In 1970 that business became known as Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich and the World name disappeared. The company is not related to World Book, Inc., which publishes a famous encyclopedia.

The final image here is the inside of the front cover. Dad's signature is there, along with a stamp of a business that offered such products as Zenith Radios and Westinghouse Refrigerators. I assume Ray Radio and Appliance Company, Inc., was located in Gadsden, although I've found nothing about it so far. Did they provide these texts to students?

Now that I've looked closer at this book, I'm not sure if dad used it at Etowah High School or in junior high. Perhaps further research in family memorabilia will turn up a report card to answer that question!

A revised edition of the book was issued in 1940. The WorldCat description labels it "juvenile literature."

S.S. Selma, A Concrete Ship

Did you know concrete ships were once a thing? Neither did I. Let's investigate.

These ships were built of a combination of steel and ferrocement, or reinforced concrete. Several were built by the U.S. in World War I due to steel shortages. The war ended before any were used, but such ships and barges were built and deployed by the U.S. and Great Britain during World War II. The U.S. alone built 104 of the vessels. The concrete boat actually dates to 1848 in France; vessels with concrete hulls have been launched even in recent years. A website dedicated to the history of these vessels is here.

The largest of the twelve concrete ships constructed by the U.S. during the First World War was the S.S. Selma and its twin the S.S. Latham. These ships were not entirely concrete, of course, only the hulls. The S.S. Selma weighed 7500 tons, was 434 feet in length, and could make about 12 miles per hour. 

F.F. Ley and Company built the S.S. Selma in Mobile, and she was launched on June 28, 1919. That same day the Treaty of Versailles was signed, long after hostilities had ended in November 1918. Since the government no longer needed her, she was sold to a private company and began working several ports along the Gulf Coast as an oil tanker. 

In May 1920 she struck a jetty in Tampico, Mexico; the accident put a long gash in the hull. Temporary repairs allowed the shipped to be towed to Galveston, but no permanent repairs could be made. The owners then partially sank her near Pelican Island in a specially dug channel on March 9, 1922. The wreck has been visible ever since and has become a tourist attraction.

A recent article from the Associated Press describes the current status and probable future of the SS Selma. The wreck has been a state archaeological landmark since 1993 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, but the president of the corporation that owns her noted rapid deterioration and the possibility she could be under water in fifteen years. That would be a sad fate indeed for a vessel just now reaching 100 years after launch.

An appreciation of the SS Selma by Richard W. Steiger can be found here. A web site devoted to all the concrete ships of World Wars I and II is here. More about the SS Selma can be found in Dorothy Anne Rowland's 2018 thesis, "The History of Galveston's Concrete Ships" [Texas A&M University, PDF file]. 

You can find a gallery of photos of the wreck here.

Source: Shipwreck World

Source: Wikipedia